Top 10 Organic (But Still STRONG) Drinks for New Year's

from Blog: http://greenhome.huddler.com/

It's never too early to start planning your New Year's Eve (okay, that's not true, but it's certainly not too early to be thinking about it now). Here are 10 drink recipes (plus two bonus ones) to get your celebration on!

10. Sparkling Pomegranate Mocktail

Ingredients:

3/4 c. organic sparkling juice (R.W. Knudsen sparkling cranberry is great)

1/4 c. R.W. Knudsen Organic Pomegranate Nectar

Directions:

Pour ingredients into a tall glass with ice. Garnish with a lime or something fun.

Result: If you're the designated driver of the night or if you prefer not to drink, there's no reason you can't have a more interesting drink than Coke. A blend of sparkling juice and pomegranate juice is just plain delightful. Yeah, that's right. It's delightful.

9. Sustainable Fat Tire

Ingredients:

Ice cold New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale

Cold glass

Directions:

Open the bottle of beer. Pour it into the glass. Yeah, this one's complicated.

Result: If you're a beer drinker, New Belgium offers up some fantastic brews. The clear favorite of the Huddle is Fat Tire. It's got a bit of sweetness that makes it easy and pleasant to drink, but it's certainly not a girly beer (not that there's anything wrong with girly beers). It's not organic, but New Belgium has stellar sustainability practices.

8. VeeV-ini

Ingredients:

1/2 oz. VeeV Acai Spirit

Prosecco Perlage Riva Moretta sparkling wine (made with organic grapes)

Directions:

Pour chilled VeeV into a champagne glass. Add the sparkling wine.

VeeV recommends garnishing with blueberries or raspberries. If you're in the mood to color up (or fruit up) the beverage, add a drop of acai juice. It'll give it a nice reddish purplish hue. (Adapted from VeeV)

Result: Give this one a go for a variation on your standard New Year's champagne. VeeV offers up a bit of a fruitiness, which goes nicely with the light taste of the sparkling wine.

Of course, you could use any old sparking wine or champagne if you're just making a run to your corner liquor store, but we recommend going with something a tad sweeter. VeeV doesn't work as well with dry champagne.

7. Long Island Organic Style

Ingredients:

1 oz. Square One organic vodka

1 oz. Juniper Green organic gin

1 oz. 4 Copas Organic Blanco Tequila

1 oz. Papagayo Organic White Rum

1/2 oz. triple sec (or for 100% organic, replace it with organic orange honey)

2 tbsp. organic lemon juice (fresh squeezed is preferable but not crucial)

1/2 c. organic cola (Blue Sky makes some)

Directions:

Mix everything except the cola together in a cocktail shaker with ice. Split it between two glasses, top it off with the cola, and garnish with some lemon slices if you've got them.

Result: This is a great drink for a quick and dirty start to the night. This recipe makes two drinks (we recommend sharing with a friend, rather than double fisting).

6. Dirty (But Clean) Martini

Ingredients:

4 oz. Juniper Green Organic Gin (or Square One organic vodka)

1.5 oz. olive juice (preferably from a jar of organic olives)

Splash of vermouth (if you've got it)

Directions:

Shake up the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker (or if you're not feeling the James Bond, stir it instead). Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with some tasty organic olives.

Result: If you're going to have a real dirty martini, make it as clean as you can with Juniper Green gin. Of course, if vodka is your liquor of choice, Square One is a good alternative. Either way, this one's a classic.

5. Make Me Boil Organic (or perhaps just an Organic Boilermaker)

Ingredients:

12 oz. organic beer (try something a bit lighter like Wolaver's)

1 shot of Benromach organic whisky

Directions:

Pour the whisky into a shot glass. Pour the beer into a pint glass (you might want to only fill it up about 3/4 of the way or you could risk some serious spillage). Then you've got a few options for the actual consumption bit. You can take the shot and chace with beer. Or you can go the speedy way - drop the shot in the glass and drink up fast.

Result: A few of these can get you good and sloshed (if that's what you're going for). You'll want to be careful of the splash if you drop the shot glass into the beer, but the two organics combine brilliantly for a fun (and rather filling) drink.

4. VeeV Acai-tini

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. agave nectar

2 oz. VeeV Acai Spirit
1 1/2 oz. acai juice
1/2 oz. lime juice

Directions:

Combine VeeV, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, açaí juice and ice in a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain and pour into a martini glass and garnish with a lime wedge. (Creator: VeeV)

When it comes to the acai juice, we prefer Bossa Nova acai. Of course, the flavor is up to you, but the passionfruit kind is always a solid choice.

Result: This is one tasty, tasty little drink...if you're a fan of juicy beverages. However, be warned - because VeeV blends so smoothly with the acai juice, you might be tempted to down a few of these quickly. And that, my friend, is trouble. But on the plus side, it's a great way to get in some antioxidants.

3. Juniper Green Bee's Knees

Ingredients:

2 oz. Juniper Green Organic Gin
1 oz. lavender honey syrup (see below)
1/2 oz. organic lemon juice

Directions:

Shake all the ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a mint leaf, if you're feeling really fancy.

To make the lavender honey syrup, heat 1 part water, 1 part organic honey, and 1/2 teaspoon of dried lavender blossoms. Steep for 5 to 7 minutes. Strain out the lavender and let cool. Or just get lazy and use lavender honey.

Result: A little bit of lavender packs a lot of punch. This is another very fantastic (albeit a little girly) cocktail. The aromatic nature of the gin works nicely with the lavender and lemon.

2. 4 Copas Pomegranate Margarita

Ingredients:

2 oz. 4 Copas Organic Blanco Tequila

1/2 oz. organic lime juice

2 oz. pomegranate juice

1/2 oz. organic agave nectar or a spoonful of honey

Directions:

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Add a splash of club soda, if you're in the mood for a bit of sparkle. For a slight citrus twist, try using POM Tangerine and orange-infused honey. (Adapted from 4 Copas)

Result: Some people find pomegranate juice a bit bitter but with the agave and the 4 Copas tequila, it goes down real smooth. Just think about drinking this one early in the night. You don't want to deal with sloppy spills on New Year's Eve and pomegranate stains on New Year's Day.

1. Fleury Fleur de l'Europe Brut Organic Champagne

Ingredients:

champagne

chilled champagne glass

Directions:

Pop the bottle (but avoid hitting yourself or someone else in the face with the cork). Pour. Enjoy.

Result: One of the few organic champagnes in the world, this one isn't cheap ($50 to $100 a bottle) but it's well worth it for the ball drop.

The Fleur de l'Europe (or the Flower of Europe) is 80% pinot noir, 20% chardonnay. It's got a clean taste with a slight hint of citrus and cherry. It's perfect for the 3-2-1 countdown with your new year kiss.

And just for good measure...here are the top 2 for the morning after:

Prosecco Perlage Riva Moretta Mimosa

Ingredients:

Prosecco Perlage Riva Moretta sparkling wine (made with organic grapes)

Organic orange juice

Directions:

Fill two-thirds of your champagne glass with the sparkling wine. Top it off with orange juice to taste. Give it a little stir and say cheers.

Result: This sparkling wine has a long name but it's got the right price coming in at $17 or so. Its crisp, fruity flavor mixes swimmingly with some organic orange juice. And of course, the sparkling wine to orange juice ratio is entirely up to you. We prefer it about 3 to 1, with low-pulp orange juice.

Spicy Almost Organic Bloody Mary

Ingredients:

10 oz. organic tomato juice (we prefer R.W. Knudsen juice)

2 oz. Square One organic vodka (or Prairie Organic which is a bit cheaper)

3 dashes of Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce

1 or 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a tall glass with ice. Garnish with celery, pickled asparagus, pickled green beans, olives, lemon, or whatever else you're in the mood for.

Result: You can't beat a good bloody mary. Made with Square One and R.W. Knudsen tomato juice, you get a smooth, rich combination. And of course, you can always vary the recipe to be as spicy (or not spicy) as you like. If you're feeling really fancy (or really organic), you might consider giving modmix's organic Wasabi Bloody Mary mix a try. We recommend garnishing with olives and something pickled. It gives the drink an extra punch. Plus, it's almost like you're drinking a salad. But not quite.